Abd al-Malik’s Coinage Reform

The three coin specimens show the transition from Byzantine to Arab-Islamic coinage. On the second coin, the bearded and long- haired caliph is dressed in traditional Arab robes and is holding a sword. It is the first extant portrait of a Muslim. It is also unique because later there developed an antipathy towards the representation of living beings in art and craft. Abd al-Malik’s reform of coinage was linked with his reorganisation of state finances. It proved so successful that for hundreds of years, coins were struck according to the pattern and weight of the third specimen. Byzantine gold solidus ( denarius aureus ) showing the emperor Heraclius and his two sons. Portrait gold dinar struck by Abd al-Malik with his name and image. The reformed dinar was purely epigraphic. It carries the kalima : ‘There is no God but Allah and He has no partner (sharik)’